Egg carton



D. LEvKoFF 3,088,650

EGG CARTON 2 Sheets-Sheei l May 7, 1963 Filed June 29, 1961 D. LEVKOFF EGG CARTON May 7, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheei; 2

Filed June 29, 1961 INVENTOR BY Dovd Levkoff /j M Mim@ ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,088,650 EGG CARTON David Levkoff, 36 Barstow Road, Great Neck, N.Y. Filed .lune 29, 1961, Ser. No. 120,744 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-28) This invention relates to egg cartons and, more particularly, to a single-piece egg carton characterized by a structure which supports the eggs without the necessity of resilient supporting sections -cut in the bottom walls of the carton.

In the design of an egg carton structure, every effort is made to cradle each egg so as to protect it in storage and in transit. Many prior art structures have been devised to provide cradling protection for the bottom of each egg, but the egg carton of my present invention provides suffi cient cradling of the eggs by the transverse partition scctions of the carton to eliminate the necessity for any cradling opening in the bottom wall of the carton.

In the egg carton structure of my invention, the bottom wall of the carton is completely supported above the plane on which the carton rests. This result is achieved by gluing together a bottom rail panel and the lower portion of each adjacent side wall panel and by suspending the bottom wall from the upper edge of each bottom rail panel. In this way, the bottom wall of the carton is maintained in a plane above that on which the carton rests so that the normal resiliency of the imperforate bottom wall is sufficient, together with the cradling afforded by the transverse partition sections, to afford complete protection for each egg.

The egg carton of my invention .is formed from a single piece blank composed essentially of the following panels joined serially by fold lines: a tuck ap panel, a cover panel, a first side wall panel, a first bottom rail panel, a first bottom panel, a second bottom panel, a second bottom rail panel, a second side wall panel, a first transverse partition panel, a first longitudinal central partition panel, a second longitudinal central partition panel, a second transverse partition panel, and a glue panel.

When the single-piece egg carton blank of my invention is folded and assembled, it forms a carton composed essentially, in serially-arranged order, of a tuck flap, a cover panel, a first side wall, a first bottom rail panel folded upwardly in adhesive engagement with the lower inner portion of the first side wall, an imperforate bottom wall, a second bottom rail panel folded downwardly, a Second side wall the lower portion of which is in adhesive engagement with the second bottom rail panel, a first transverse partition panel positioned above the bottom wall, a first longitudinal central partition panel, a second longitudinal partition panel, a second transverse partition panel positioned above the bottom panel, and a glue flap adhesively secured to the inner surface of the first side wall, at least a portion of one of the partition panels being adhesively -secured to the inner surface of the bottom wall, in an inclined position with respect to the bottom wall.

These and other novel features of the structure of my invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a top plan view of the blank from which the carton is assembled;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the assembled carton in its set-up condition; and

FIG. 3 is a partial end View in perspective of the carton in its set-up condition.

The egg carton blank shown in FIG. 1 comprises a single piece from which all portions of the carton are formed. Beginning at the left side of the blank, it will be seen that it comprises a tuck fiap panel connected along a fold line 11 to a cover panel 12. The cover panel is ICC joined along a fold line 13 to a first side wall panel 14 which, in turn, 4is joined along a fold line 15 to a first bottom rail panel 16. This rail panel is connected along a fold line 17 to a first bottom panel 18 which is joined by a fold line 19 to a second bottom panel 20. The second bottom panel is joined along a fold line 21 to a second bottom rail panel 22 which, in turn, is connected along the fold line 23 to a second side wall panel 24. The second side wall panel is joined along a fold line 25 to a first transverse partition panel 26 which is joined along a fold line 27 to a first longitudinal central partition panel 28. This longitudinal partition panel is joined to the second longitudinal partition panel `29 by means of a series of alternate cut lines 30 and fold lines 31 extending the fold width of the blank. The second central partition panel 29 is joined along a fold line 32 to a second transverse partition panel 33 which is joined by a fold line 34 to an end-most glue panel 35.

Each of the transverse partition panels 26 and 33 is provided with a plurality of transverse partition sections 36. These transverse partition sections are defined by cut lines 37 extending generally along the line of the fold lines which define the borders of the transverse partition panels. The cut lines 37 along the cooperating pair of fold lines defining each transverse partition panel are joined by cut lines 38. The extremities of the cut lines 37 are joined by fold lines 39. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the fold lines 39 are bowed as shown in FIG. l so that the surface of the transverse partition sections 36 will be curved when these sections are folded downwardly into the interior of the erected carton. In order to facilitate this curvature of the sections 36, the sections are further provided with fold lines 40 spaced inwardly from but substantially parallel to the fold lines which define the borders of the transverse partition panels.

In assembling the egg carton blank of FIG. 1, the first bottom rail panel 16 is folded over about the fold line 15 on to a glued area 41a and the second side wall panel 24 bearing a glued strip 41b is folded over about the fold line 23 into contact with the second bottom rail 22. A glued area 42 is also provided along the portion of the first-mentioned longitudinal center partition panel 28 adjacent the fold line 27, and glue is also applied to the glue flap 35. Two or more of the tcut lines 30 are shaped to extend a further distance to the right of the fold line 31 than the other cut lines 30 so as to form a tongue-like extension 43 to which glue is also applied. The inboard portion of this glued area 43 is advantageously provided with a fold line 44 and an additional fold line 45 parallel thereto further extends the length of each tongue. The glued area 43 of each tongue comes into contact with one of the bottom wall panels 20 to the right of the fold line 19 joining the two bottom wall panels. Thus, when the assembled carton is erected as shown in FIG. 2 the glued tongue portion 43 is secured to the bottom panel 20 offset from the fold line 19. The fold lines 44 and 45 permit the adhesively joined longitudinal center panels 28 and 29 to assume a more erect position than would otherwise be possible. The residual inclination of the longitudinal 'central panels is accommodated by the curvature of the eggs inserted into each pocket of the carton.

The pockets of the carton are shown in FIG. 3. It will be observed that as each of the transverse partition sections 36 is folded downwardly into the interior of the carton they assume a curved shape due to the bowed fold line 39, enhanced by the fold lines 40. It must be understood, however, that certain of the transverse fold lines 39 may be made straight rather than bowed in strategic positions in order to increase the rigidity of the carton to lateral pressure against the side walls 14 and 24. The curvature of at least one transverse partition section 36 provides cradling of an egg placed in each compartment and thus absorb a portion of any shock given to the loaded carton.

I claim:

A single-piece egg carton composed essentially in serially-arranged order of a tuck ap, a cover panel, a rst side wall, a iirst bottom lrail panel folded upwardly in adhesive engagement with the lower inner portion of the rst side wall, an imperforate bottom wall, a second bottorn rail panel folded downwardly, a second side wall the lower portion of which is in adhesive engagement with the second bottom rail panel, a rst transverse partition panel positioned above the bottom wall, a first longitudinal central partition panel, a second longitudinal partition panel, a second transverse partition panel positioned above the bottom panel, and a glue flap adhesively secured to the inner surface of the rst side wall, at least a portion of one of the partition panels being adhesively secured to the inner surface of the bottom wall, in an inclined position with respect to the bottom wall.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,092,148 Berglund Sept. 7, 1,937 2,130,378 Bueschel Sept. 20, 1938 2,387,314 Cox Oct. 23, 1945 2,512,991 Allen June 27, 1950 2,944,718 Williamson July 12, 1960 

